CPI(M) Greets CPRF Congress

Below we publish the text of the message of greetings sent by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to the 15th congress of the Communist Party of Russian Federation (CPRF), to be held on February 23 and 24, 2013, in Moscow. Sitaram Yechury, Polit Bureau member, is attending the congress as a fraternal delegate from the CPI(M).

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) extends its heartfelt greetings to the 15th congress of the Communist Party of Russian Federation (CPRF). On this occasion, we greet the leadership and all the members of the party and express our heartfelt solidarity. We also take this opportunity to congratulate you all for your excellent performance in the recently concluded elections to the Duma.

Comrades,

Your congress is meeting in a period when all the efforts to the ruling classes to emerge out of the crisis are leading to yet another crisis, a continuation of the global economic crisis that had its genesis in 2008. The International Labour Organisation (ILO), in a recently released report titled Global Employment Trends 2013, states that “On an annualised basis, global economic growth is estimated to have decelerated to 3.3 per cent in 2012, compared with 3.8 per cent in 2011 and 5.1 per cent in 2010.” The US economy, contrary to expectations, shrank for the first time in more than three years in the fourth quarter, underscoring the halting nature of the recovery. The economies of UK, Germany, Spain and Belgium have joined the US as their economies too shrank in the fourth quarter. This is not an isolated phenomenon confined to a few countries. The economies of several more Euro zone members too are expected to decline. All these data are pointing to the truth in the prediction that the world is on the verge of a double-dip recession. Even the best of the ruling class efforts to come out of the crisis have proved futile. The prolonged and deepening crisis in the Euro area and policy ambiguity related to fiscal tightening and the debt ceiling debate in the United States have only worsened the situation.

The effects of the crisis are tellingly being felt on the people of the world. Unemployment is fast rising. According to the ILO report, around 197 million people are without a job in 2012 and some 39 million people have dropped out of the labour market as job prospects proved unattainable. The ILO predicts that the situation is not going to improve any time soon and that the number of unemployed will rise to more than 202 million in 2013. A substantial percentage of the global unemployed are from the Euro zone where unemployment remains at record levels. A crucial fact is, majority of the unemployed are youth. Currently, some 73.8 million young people are unemployed globally and the slowdown in economic activity is likely to push another half a million into unemployment by 2014.

The austerity measures pursued by many countries at the behest of multilateral lending agencies like the IMF, ECB are further worsening the situation. Many countries, whose economies are on the verge of collapse – sovereign insolvencies – are coerced by these agencies to accept bailout loans. The conditions imposed, like the drastic reductions in social welfare spendings, instead of contributing to the economic growth, are driving the contractions in many countries. ‘Austerity’ measures – introduced to come out of their sovereign insolvency – with their added burdens of the working class and common people, in reality, had further reduced their purchasing power.

All the efforts of the ruling classes to stem this crisis are bound to fail as they do not address the basic root of the issue – the system itself. As Karl Marx had shown us, capitalism is an exploitative and inherently crisis ridden system. Unless the basic contradiction in the capitalist system – between the social nature of production and the individual nature of profit maximisation – is resolved the occurrence of such crises cannot be ended. This contradiction can be resolved only in a socialist society.

Imperialism, especially during the periods of economic crisis, aggressively desires to control all the regions that are rich in natural resources and markets. In order to maintain and retain its hegemony over the entire world, imperialism employs all the means at its disposal – economic, political and military – to wriggle out of the economic crisis. Imperialist military intervention in Libya, Syria and now Mali are a reflection of these attempts.

Imperialism does not detest from using war as a means to come out of economic crisis. On the other hand, Vladmir Ilych Lenin and the CPSU(B) had shown us how capitalism can be overthrown during the period of crisis by breaking the chain of imperialism at its weakest link. The Great October Socialist Revolution had taught the communists all over the world that it is only through the concrete application of Marxism to concrete conditions that socialism can be achieved.

History also teaches us that capital will never allow socialism to flourish without hindrances and exist as a challenge to its hegemony. Finance capital even created fascism to counter the growing influence of communists and used the subsequent world war to come out of its greatest economic crisis. It is Stalin and once again the CPSU who led the world in defeating fascism and built socialism in those very trying circumstances in the then USSR. Ruling classes are trying to erase this heroic legacy of the communists by equating communism and fascism through distorted historical narratives. Today, amidst acute global economic crisis, the ruling classes are vainly trying to counter the growing interest among people towards socialism and communism through many such nefarious means. As historical experience and recent events point out, these acts of aggression do not go unchallenged.

Massive protest demonstrations are taking place around the world against the imperialist attempts to ride roughshod over the livelihoods of the working class and common people. People are once again seriously debating the reasons for the repeated economic crisis and searching for alternatives to the crisis ridden capitalist system. These protests should be given a proper political direction – arm them with the theory of scientific socialism – to ensure that they achieve real tangible benefits and change the society for the better.

Dear Comrades,

The CPI(M) too is in the midst of an intense struggle resisting the onslaught of the ruling classes on the livelihoods of the people of India. The government, instead of initiating steps to insulate the country from the impact of global economic crisis, has initiated a series of measures that are going to accentuate this very impact. The famed Indian growth story has received a jolt, unemployment is rising, manufacturing slowed down and agriculture is in deep crisis. Just a few days back, the working class of our country had sounded the bugle with a 48-hour general strike. We are not only involved in the fight against this economic onslaught but are also resisting the attempts to divide our people on the lines of religion, region, ethnicity and nationality. The ruling classes are trying their best, even to the extent of launching physical attacks, to ensure that the Left does not gain strength. More than 500 of our comrades are martyred in West Bengal since 2009.

Comrades,

On this occasion of the 15th congress of the Communist Party of Russian Federation, we once again reiterate our solidarity in your struggle for socialism. This path might be long and arduous, but guided by the principles of Marxism-Leninism we are confident of being victorious.